Thanks for the link, it is a great resource. This shows how diverse the world is, and how diverse our political and economic expectations are. And it also cleared up my mistake of thinking the characteristics of individualistic and collectivistic societies applied to all those things.
When you tell me some qualititive data got a 40%, I have no idea what you mean. You could have been more specific and said it got a 40 out of 110 on the PDI scale, but I still would have no idea what that means without a definition and data to compare it to.
As for your thoughts on gasoline prices, the reality is much different than what you think. For example, Russia is much wealthier than many, if not all, third world countries, but their oil prices are down there with Saudi Arabia and the Phillipines. America, the wealthiest country on Earth is in the middle of the pack, and Uruguay has the highest prices in the world. The difference here is what people expect from their government, with people in Egypt and Russia expecting the government to give cheap free oil while other people expect to get it on their own for whatever the market price is. Of course, economics of supply and demand have a large role, but it doesnt explain differences between like countries.
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/ene_gas_pri-energy-gasoline-prices
